February 2 – US private equity investor Joe DaGrosa has dipped his toe in the international football development waters with his Kapital Football Group (KFG) investment company via an agreement, effective July 2020, with Bolivia’s Tahuichi Academy.
On the face of it, not a huge deal. But DaGrosa is not without big ambition.
DaGrosa founded KFG with his partner Hugo Varela in April 2020 with the aim of building a platform similar to City Football Group (owners of Manchester City), but in a much shorter period of time and at a much lower cost. Their plan is to buy an anchor club, three to five satellite clubs, and nine academies across three different geographies.
DaGrosa is a former owner of Girondins Bordeaux, but under the KFG banner he has failed to secure that kind of anchor club.
KFG have recently ended a period of exclusivity to complete a £200 million acquisition of Premier League Southampton but having scoured private equity markets in the US was unable to come up with the money to seal the acquisition.
The deal with the Tahuichi Academy will see KFG approach its strategic via different route, providing financial support for a number of academy investment initiatives including renovating training facilities, acquiring training equipment and team sponsorships.
“Through this strategic partnership, we look forward to providing new opportunities and resources for Tahuichi and its next generation of players who we believe will help us build an impactful platform worldwide,” said DaGrosa.
The Bolivian focus will be on developing talent that can be brought to international club markets.
“The Tahuichi training methodology has created some of the finest young talent in Bolivian football,” said Varela.. “We look forward to integrating our training methodology with the Tahuichi Way and bringing the best players to Europe and the Americas in the near future.”
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